30 Mar 2022 --- Restaurant Brands International (RBI) – the owner of Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons – has committed to eliminate potentially harmful PFAS chemicals from its food packaging worldwide by 2025, following engagement with non-profit organization As You Sow. Burger King’s food packaging was identified as containing these so-called “forever chemicals” in a 2020 study by Toxic-Free Future. Investor pressure from As You Sow and other organizations has helped spur RBI to make this “important” pledge.“We are glad to see Burger King catching up to its peers by making a commitment to end the use of PFAS in its packaging,” says Ariana Guilak, environmental health program coordinator of As You Sow. “Investors expect food companies to be constantly innovating to make their products safer and more [environmentally] sustainable, and we look forward to the company’s work to identify safe, [environmentally] sustainable packaging alternatives.”“This is a critically important step toward reducing PFAS exposures to prevent them from building up in women and breast milk,” adds Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “These types of decisions will help protect our most vulnerable populations, and we hope others can take similar actions.”
